The present invention relates to management of electronic mail.
Electronic mail, or e-mail, is fast becoming a dominant mode of communication. In its fundamental form, e-mail is managed by two kinds of computer software; namely, e-mail server software (referred to simply as xe2x80x9ce-mail serversxe2x80x9d) and e-mail client software (referred to simply as xe2x80x9ce-mail clientsxe2x80x9d). E-mail servers reside on centrally accessed computers (referred to as xe2x80x9cserver computersxe2x80x9d), and manage incoming and outgoing e-mail for remote users who are authorized to use such server computers. E-mail servers maintain separate mail accounts for each authorized user, into which incoming mail is stored.
E-mail clients reside on remote computers (referred to as xe2x80x9cclient computersxe2x80x9d) and manage incoming and outgoing mail for designated users. E-mail clients are responsible for downloading arriving mail items from the server computer at which they are located. E-mail clients are also responsible for transmitting outgoing mail from a remote client computer to a server computer. Examples of popular e-mail clients for personal computers are Eudora(copyright), Internet Explorer(copyright) and Netscape(copyright).
Standard e-mail uses a protocol named Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). For use over the Internet, Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) extends the format of Internet mail to allow non-US-ASCII textual messages, non-textual messages, multi-part message bodies and non-US-ASCII information in message headers. Attachments to e-mail messages are also encoded as MIME attachments.
One of the drawbacks with e-mail, however, is the need for a user to be connected to the Internet in order to receive or send his e-mail. Although Internet access is available in many homes and offices, and Internet stations are available in many public areas, being xe2x80x9cun-wiredxe2x80x9d is still a concern for mobile users who are neither at home nor in their office. When on the road, a user often finds himself unable to access his e-mail, for a variety of reasons.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for management of electronic mail, including the steps of converting an e-mail message from text to speech, receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, reading the selected e-mail message, recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, and sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for management of electronic mail, including the steps of converting an e-mail message from text to speech, receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, reading the selected e-mail message, recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, storing the audio file on a computer, and sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for management of electronic mail, including a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech, a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, an audio player reading the selected e-mail message, an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, and a transmitter sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for management of electronic mail, including a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech, a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, an audio player reading the selected e-mail message, an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, a computer storing the audio file, and a transmitter sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for managing voice electronic mail including the steps of playing by a local computer an incoming audio file containing a voice message, the incoming audio file residing on a remote computer, and saving the incoming audio file as a local audio file on the local computer after the playing step.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for management of electronic mail, including the steps of converting an e-mail message from text to speech, receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, reading the selected e-mail message, recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail, and playing the audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for management of electronic mail, including the steps of converting an e-mail message from text to speech, receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, reading the selected e-mail message, recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, storing the audio file on a first computer, sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file, playing the audio file, and saving the audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for managing voice electronic mail including an audio player within a local computer playing an incoming audio file containing a voice message, the incoming audio file residing on a remote computer, and a data processor saving the incoming audio file as a local audio file on the local computer, after the audio player plays the incoming audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for management of electronic mail, including a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech, a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, a first audio player reading the selected e-mail message, an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, a transmitter sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail, and a second audio player playing the audio file.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for management of electronic mail, including a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech, a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message, a first audio player reading the selected e-mail message, an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file, a computer storing the audio file, a transmitter sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file, a second audio player playing the audio file, and a data processor saving the audio file.